Pursuit from Past Sins
by Rit-Rit
Summary: Falon thinks that she has escaped from the Soul Society. After hidding herself in plain sight for years her hidding place is beginning to unweave on itself as she runs into someone she use to know. loosely based on bleach. OC x OC
1. Prologue

AN: This is my first fanfic so reviews and that would be appreciated. Please no flames though.

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**Prologue**

The moon hung like a silver tear drop in the air. The wind whispered through the streets and the odd bush or tree that managed to survive in the cramped conditions. Along with it the scent of freshness was there, it had rained earlier that day. The night air was cold as it touched a bare back. The person walking along alone in the street shivered, the cold air was just beginning to get to her. She was late for getting home, but she didn't seem to be too worried, the punishment would be the same if she hurried or not. A cry escaped her lips as she crumpled onto the ground, folding in on herself. Seconds later she seemed to get up and walk on, heading for the forest. A mass on the ground was left there. It didn't move.

Blood sprayed in a high arc into the air. It glistened dark crimson in the silver moon light in small droplets before the droplets flattened as they splattered onto the ground, greenery, and the one causing it--it was like rain. The dagger cut through cloth, skin, bone, veins, and muscle. Blood. Tons of the stuff. All spilling at the hand of a single blade. It left a trail of ear numbing screams in its wake. The ground drank greedily at the life-providing-liquid and pulled it into its depths, ignoring the stain the red liquid would give it. The moon continued to shed its silver light on the scene far below it, in a different world from it, uncaring about the lives that were being ended before their time. When the screams and yells of terror ended all that was left standing was the figure in the centre of the fallen masses, it held the glistening, blood covered dagger.

It didn't take long for many shinigami to show up, called by the dying screams of their own kind. Spotting the figure one of them yelled at them to stop and stay still, his words only made the figure jump away from the lifeless bodies and flee. The figure fled to where the mass it had left behind was, losing the shinigami giving change long enough to get there and vanish, leaving the girl who was crumpled on the found to be their scapegoat.

Waking up slowly, the girl was only aware of her wicked headache that kept pounding against the back of her head. _A concussion?_ She thought to herself recognizing the feeling. She looked around the room with a sickening dizziness, taking a long time to realise her surroundings when usually nothing escaped her: she was in Central 46, in the centre of it and surrounded by the 46 members of the highest judicial system in the Soul Society. She was only just becoming aware of what they were saying, bust still it wasn't enough to keep her from speaking before she thought.

"E-excuse me," she started trying to be polite--even if she wasn't usually, "but, what have I done?" She felt the room become suddenly uncomfortable as silence fell over the room. Soon after laughter burst out around her, it caused anger to boil up in her veins.

"You mean you _don't_ remember the unreasonable slaughtering of a squad of shinigami?" a man that seemed to be one of the main judges roared.

"No I don't. I didn't do it! I-I was unconscious!" The girl tried to snap. Her eyes widened, now that she thought about it she did remember that. _N-no... I couldn't have... I wouldn't have..._ she thought as terror began to fill her. She was numbly aware of the banging that signified that her fate had been decided.

"Falon Shihion will be executed.

--

AN: Sorry about the use of the Shihion name.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting**

Fal's hazel eyes opened slowly as the alarm clock beside her bed went off. She was shivering, not from the cold, but from the night that had invaded her dreams yet again. The memories of it weren't complete. It confused her greatly. She forced herself to sit up, then to her feet before turning off the alarm. Her eyes scanned the room as if she expected someone to be in it.

_It's been so long since that night though,_ she thought to herself as she walked to the tiny washroom that hardly deserved that name. The room was grubby, the person before her had let tons of grim and grit build up until it was at the point that it couldn't be cleaned no matter how hard she tried. Fal reached into the shower and turned the knob that controlled the water. She made sure not to put it too far into the hot section, otherwise it'd burn her. As she waited for the water to warm she brushed her hair to get out the knots.

Fal slipped into the water quietly, enjoying the warmth. She nearly shrieked when it became icy against her skin. Jumping out, she hammered on the wall snapping at the person in the neighbouring apartment. She had been lucky enough to finish washing her hair when the water had gone cold. Fal turned it off not wanting to raise her water bill too high.

Her hazel eyes went to the mirror as she wrapped a towel around her slim body. Fal's hair was darker than it usually was, from the moisture, it was typically a brown, her skin was a creamy sort of gold that was darker than most people's in the island country, and white scars stood out against the skin plainly. Dragging her eyes away from her reflection she started to dry off then went to get dressed. She glared at the door when someone started pounding on the wood.

"Give me a moment you two!" She said at the door knowing who was waiting on the other side of the thin wood.

"Well then, hurry up! Remember, we were going to go get breakfast today?!" Shiro called back and leaned against the door waiting for Fal. He wasn't alone, Tekuto Akia was with him, and both were friends of hers.

"I'm hurrying!" Fal snapped back. Several seconds later she yanked the door open, sending Shiro falling into her apartment.

"Hey!"

"You should know better than to lean on doors."

Shiro was silenced by that. Fal stepped over him and watched as he got up; as soon as he was out of her room she closed the door then locked it. Shiro's light hair that was a bit purplish was messy from the fall backwards that he hadn't been expecting. His red eyes closed tightly when he rubbed the back of his head, "Man, I think I bumped by head pretty badly."

"It's your own fault," Fal grumbled but looked up at Shiro once she stepped behind him to see if it was that bad, "it appears just to be a bump, but I can't tell too well, you're too tall." she sighed.

"Why don't we get going, if it's too bad to stop Shiro from eating then we can be worried." Tekuto said. He was a bit worried but he knew that it was probably nothing serious so he didn't let that worry show overly. His silver eyes looked around the hallway, it was empty besides them.

Fal looked at the two guys then nodded before leading the way out of the apartment block that they all lived in, "So you guys weren't going to starve while waiting?" she asked.  
"We thought we were going to you took so long." Shiro grumbled.

Fal sighed exhaustedly, "Food. Is that all you can think of?!"

"Girls. You forgot girls." Shiro stated.

"You keep talking like that and no girl will want to go out with you, especially that Akira one you've been talking about."

"You keep hanging around with us all the guys will think you're taken. When are you going to get yourself a boy Fal?"

Silence was the answer. She didn't even hear the question. Fal had frozen when a shadow passed over their heads and the heads of the others in the large crowd they had joined after leaving the apartment block. Shinigami. Her body shivered, _it doesn't matter, it's probably just the Residential Shinigami, Fal stop worrying yourself,_ she thought to calm herself.

"Hey, Fal, you coming?" Shiro said to her, somewhat loudly. He was getting impatient. His eyes had narrowed when he had also noticed the Shinigami. He didn't like them at all. It seemed that Tekuto was the only one not to notice the shadow, though even he had.

Fal blinked then snapped out of it, "Huh? Oh yeah... Coming!" she said then ran after her friends.

"Ah, I'm so full I can't eat another crumb!" Shiro's voice rang out in sheer bliss.

"I don't think we could afford another crumb." Tekuto and Fal laughed.

"Looks like that bump on your head wasn't so bad after all, huh Shiro?"

"Shut up!"

The laughter died away was they noticed the price on the bill. It was expensive. "Um guys, think we should split it?" Fal asked. None of them would be able to afford it themselves and still manage to pay their bills and rent.

"Wow, yeah, we should." Tekuto said as he picked up the bill and looked at it. He started to figure out how much each person would have to pay. He then stated it to the others and got his portion out.

Fal's head moved in a slight nod. Her eyes closed and she tried to think of how much money she had to spare. Already she was almost done with the amount she had just earned and she needed to get a few things for herself and her falcons. She had a lot of the birds, many more out of the country, after having them for awhile they started to breed and she had more than she could handle. _I should sell some of them,_ she thought, _at least then I'd have some more money._ She'd rather sell them than release them. She sighed; she didn't have time to worry about that.

"Fal, earth to Fal! Come in Fal... Falon!" Shiro said waving a hand in front of her face as he spoke. It was only her part that they were missing for the bill.

"We need your part so we can leave." Tekuto provided when he saw how confused Fal looked. "You've been zoning out on us lots today, what's with that?"

"Oh, sorry." Fal muttered then got her share out of her wallet and set it out on the table, "That should cover my part. What do you mean Tekuto? I'm not zoning out on you I swear!" she said. She knew that she had been zoning out on them often so far and it wasn't like her too.

"Yes you are. Never mind, you're too stubborn to answer if you didn't answer the first time. Where should we go now?" he asked.

"The mall?" Fal muttered the question quietly.

"Alright, can we make it quick though?" Shiro asked.

"You just want to be quick so you can try to catch Akira's attention. Why don't you just ask her out already?" Fal hissed a bit.

"Because I'm not sure if she actually notices me that much." Shiro sighed; he wanted to be sure that he wouldn't be turned down if he asked.

"Ask. Getting turned down might be good for you. Don't avoid risks." Fal muttered then stood up. She noticed that Tekuto had gathered the money and had gone to pay at the till.

"I don't see you asking any boys out, why's that?" Shiro asked wanting to get the conversation off of him not being able to get himself to ask the girl he liked out.

"Because I don't like any of the guys that I know."

"You play for the other team or something?"

"Yeah right. You know I've dated a few guys. My mind is just on other things right now Shiro. I don't want to put up with this kind of thing right now."

Tekuto came back and looked confused, since he had missed most of the conversation he didn't understand what was going on at all. "Should we leave?" he asked. Both Shiro and Fal nodded before leaving the restaurant, they started to head for the mall.

Standing on a high roof, dark blue eyes surveyed the area he was supposed to be in charge of. Brown hair was being moved from the wind rather quickly, it didn't seem to bother the man though.  
"Damn it, why me of all people?" he asked himself out loud before he jumped off.

~ ~ ~ ~  
The mall was a busy place, crowded with people either going one way or the other. It was just as packed as the sidewalks were outside, yet Fal managed to get to where she wanted to go easily. She hated crowds, but she knew how to navigate them-it had taken her forever how to learn to do so.

Both Shiro and Tekuto had gone off on her. Tekuto had noticed that his girlfriend was working and near her break so he had gone off to hang out with her. The girl was small, friendly, blonde, and had a good personality. Fal liked her, she was even gladder that she liked Tekuto's eyes. She had seen Tekuto go out with some girls who's only intentions were to get even more people to make fun of his eyes. Shiro had seen Akira walking around in the mall and had gone to join her. Of course, both guys had told her and said that they were sorry. She didn't care, she was just glad that they were out of her way, sometimes they were annoying to shop with.

Fal stepped into a kimono store, mostly just for her own curiosity and want to visit a friend, she loved the way the kimonos looked. She could even afford one though, even with her being a friend of the owner's. She had shown up there many times to admire the silky clothes that she had befriended the owner. When she entered today the woman smiled lightly.

"Why hello there Fal! How're you today?"

"Good you?"

"Excellent now that I have someone to talk to."

"I've just come to look again." Fal's eyes went from the woman to some of the kimonos that were hanging up. She walked over to them and ran her hand over the embroidery. She had been taught how to make them a long time about, but out of practice she wasn't sure if she'd be able to any more. She had been tempted to try again sometime soon but she never had enough money to be able to buy the things that she'd need to do so. She did have some very old things left and she had one kimono that she had made but it was rather simple in design, unlike the ones that she was looking at now.

"I figured that, all you do is look when you come into here unless there's a sale then you might buy something but normally all you do is look." The woman said.  
Fal's lips twitched into a smile, "I don't have enough money to spend on one of these pretty things, no matter how much I'd love to get one. My old one is plain, but it's still good for use." She said.

They talked for awhile longer until Fal left to go to other stores; she stopped by many but never walked out with a purchase. The only store that she game out of with some bags was the grocery store, even then she didn't have much. She went home to put the food away, carefully winding her way through back alleys so the bags wouldn't be pummelled in the crowds on the sidewalks.

When Fal got home she put the groceries away before going into her fridge where there were some pieces of wild meats. She got a fair bit of what was left then left her apartment to go to where she kept her falcons. Fal stepped into the shed that she was allowed to keep her falcons in and gave them the meats. She then called a few to her and told them to go out and hunt, she knew that they'd come back so she wasn't worried about them flying away on her. She let the ones that she had told to go hunt out before opening the window for them to use to get back in. She left to go have a nap in her apartment. _Hopefully this nap won't be restless like last night's sleep,_ she thought.

Despite her hopes the nap was just as bad, the same dream intruded on her once again. _If this keeps up I won't be able to function in the day,_ she thought she knew that it would be rather bad if that happened. She couldn't just rely on her falcons to feed her; she needed more than just wild meats to survive. She needed a place to hide, a life to live to make her hiding place harder to be found. She couldn't be found.

Fal got out of bed then got herself ready to go out for a walk. She believed that it'd help her clear her mind. Leaving the room she turned off the lights then locked the door. She went out of the apartment quickly then started running through the streets-taking the emptiest ones she could find-it was like she believed that she could outrun her own thoughts and memories that were after her sanity.

Fal slowed when her sides and chest started to hurt. Hands on her knees she tried to breathe properly, _damn it, I'm so weak in this form,_ she thought to herself. She hated it. Slowly she went into the park and found a place that was grassy and empty of others. Her body started to take her through intricate patterns of movement. It didn't help her aching torso at all, but it did help her mind to begin to find some peace. For now.

He had been sitting up in a tree, staring at his cell phone when a girl ran under and started to more in strange patterns that he didn't recognize. It was interesting, the most interesting thing all day. _She doesn't seem to have any spirit energy, man, humans are so strange!_ He thought, he didn't recognize the girl at all, and he didn't care to.

Fal collapsed on the ground when she was done, her sides and chest rising up and down frantically as she tried to breathe. It was even harder than after the running. _I should probably get up and walk... that's better than laying here trying to breathe again,_ she thought. Deciding to do that Fal forced herself to get up and start to walk, out of the sight of the pair of eyes that she hadn't realised had been on her the entire time.

She wandered the streets as her breath came back. Gladdened when it returned she didn't try to break into a run once again. She knew that it'd lead to the same winded state once again. The scent of rustic blood began to tickle at her nostrils. It had taken her awhile to notice it but when she did it was all that she could smell. _Wh-what the hell?!_ She thought and tried to calm her beating heart. The scent vanished as soon as it had come. She knew that there was no blood around her; she had been looking frantically around for it so she could see the cause. There had been no crimson, sticky liquid visible. Eyes still scanning around the area Fal continued walking, shivering as she hoped that that wouldn't happen once again.  
Nearly half an hour later it did. Not just her smell this time, but also her sense of sight and touch. She shuddered when she started to lose herself. The people around her started to fall down to the ground. Dead. And bloodied. She heard screams echoing in her ears too. It drove her crazy. _S-stop…_ she thought and looked up at the moon, she started to run, picking roads that had no bodies in them.

The man that had been watching Fal in the park walked down the road, he was visible to humans now. He looked up at the sky and sighed, annoyed, he didn't like this mission at all. _I'm in the eleventh division, why the hell am I here doing thirteenth division work?!_ He thought to himself as he kept walking. He nearly fell over when a girl ran into him. He caught her in his arms on reflex.

"Hey, what are you doing?! Watch it!" he snapped. He was hardly in the mood to be assaulted by a human. His eyes widened when he saw the girl's hazel eyes, "Hey, you're the girl that was at the park…" he whispered, now that he was this close to her he could feel the spirit energy that she was hiding. He recognized the spirit energy she was hiding too; it was that of someone he knew from a long time ago.

"Fal?"

Fal looked up into the man's dark blue eyes. She looked at the messy brown hair that he hadn't seemed to have brushed that day. Her eyes widened when she recognized him for whom and what he was. "Ryoichi…?" she whispered.

"Fal… I…I thought you were dead."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Troubled Thoughts**  
Fal's eyes widened in horror, "And so you should remain thinking." She said she was afraid of him turning her in. Her who was once his friend. Quickly she pushed herself away from Ryoichi and ran, she ran until she was out of his sight. _Hopefully he doesn't come after me, he'll only hurt himself if he does,_ she thought to herself. _No, he'll only hurt both of us,_ the thought whispered to her from the back of her mind. She tried to shake it away.

"Fal! Wait!" Ryoichi called he took a step to follow her then froze. He was already torn between sides. His old friend Fal, or the Soul Society. _She probably doesn't want me to follow her… I better watch her though, it'll be for her own safety,_ he thought. He wasn't sure if it was for his friend's safety that he wanted to try to watch her or the fact that he wanted to find her and talk to her. If he couldn't do that he wanted to watch her under the guise of saying that he was trying to look out for her and her safety. A hollow wouldn't be able to get its greedy claws on her to begin with.

As night fell he had no luck in his search for Fal. _It's almost as if she's vanished. I can't even sense her, then again, I couldn't sense her until I touched her,_ he thought. His blue eyes scanned each person's face as they past him and he past them. He knew that Fal would be avoiding him thoroughly; he didn't expect her to come near any street that his spirit energy was near. It didn't help that he wasn't good enough at masking his spirit energy to the point that Fal wouldn't be able to detect it.

His cell phone went off, plunging straight into a frenzy of high pitched, infuriating notes that could drive anyone mad if it was left playing for an overly long time, "damn, a hollow?! Where?!" he muttered then opened the phone before seeing where it was. Ryoichi ran off quickly to where the hollow was to kill it. He wasn't in the mood for the nonsense of hollows; he wanted to find who he was looking for. _I can't tell anyone about this either,_ he thought. He knew that he'd get Fal in a lot of trouble if he did tell the Soul Society or anyone else. Trouble that she wouldn't be able to escape from twice.

Ryoichi's dark blue eyes scanned over the area from where he was perched up high on a building. It didn't give him a sight of people's faces but it did give him an overall view of the district. He was no longer as irritated with this mission as he had been earlier this afternoon. _So she's still practicing in her hand-to-hand combat, she may need that some time if she's found out,_ he thought, the look on his face couldn't be mistaken for anything else. He was troubled by this thought. He knew that things could get rather risky soon if anyone else found out. He knew that no one else could find out.

Fal woke up gradually. It had been several weeks now since she had run into Ryoichi, she hadn't seen him since. A part of her longed to see him again, to talk to him, but the rest of her knew that that would basically be suicide._ He's with the shinigami; I can't afford to talk to him. I'll be found out. I haven't hidden so long just to blow everything because of these worthless, intervening feelings. That would be a child's mistake and I'm no longer a child. I wouldn't make that foolish error,_ she thought to herself. She knew that she had spent too long working on her hidden spot that was plainly out in the open to throw it all away as if it didn't matter.

Fal stretched as she stood outside in the opened doorway to her apartment. She turned to close it. Her ears picked up the sound of footsteps. Eyes sliding up she saw that it was, in fact, Tekuto that was coming down the hallway. She guessed his purpose of being out and rather neatly dressed for once. Of course, rather neatly dressed meant un-torn jeans and a hoodie that was rather new and wasn't stained, "You going to go visit with Sabrina?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering, where are you guys meeting?"

"Down by the river."

"Can I walk with you for a bit?"

"If you want. There's no rules against it, plus, Sabrina likes hanging out with you too."

Fal smiled, it was a great relief to hear that her friend's girlfriend liked her rather than having her hate her guts for hanging around with Tekuto, "I'm glad for that, I'd hate to have her jealous of me because you're one of my only friends and we live in the same apartment block. But she doesn't have to worry about you cheating on her. I hope she realises that."  
"She does, that's why she isn't like that with me hanging out with you. I'm glad that she isn't. We've been friends for…what…three years now? It'd suck if a girlfriend of mine got mad at that." Tekuto said then sighed, he hadn't had a girlfriend like that but he hasn't had many girlfriends. And some that he has had just tried to embarrass him my making him look like an idiot or something because they knew someone that had a problem with his eyes. He hated that some people did that. He didn't like being called blind either. Being called that was enough to greatly anger him.

"Then I'm glad that she does realise that. I know we tried dating once but it didn't really work out…" Fal muttered.

Tekuto laughed as he remembered their attempt at dating, it had been awkward. That was the only word to use for it. Fal joined in the laughter. When they arrived at the river Fal said bye then continued on walking. She glanced back once to see Tekuto and Sabrina hug before walking along the river bank, side-by-side. _I'm glad that he's happy,_ she thought. She knew that Sabrina was probably the best girl for him.

Her mind recently has been plagued by strange things, that dream was attacking her more and more in her waking moments and she hated it. _Why won't it stop? It's annoying,_ she thought to herself. To Fal the dream was just a memory, something that had gone and passed and she had managed to get away from with her life. Now it changed the way her life should have been, but she was learning to become fond of this life.

A falcon came down and perched on Fal's shoulder as she kept on walking. "Hello Oisen, how're you?" she whispered. She couldn't understand the trill that she got in answer to her words.

Oisen was a large falcon. His feathers were white as snow with black tips to them, his eyes yellow with black dilating pupils, his beak was viscously hooked and also yellow. A slap from his wings was as good as a kick to the nose at just the right angle. He leaned over himself to preen the thick feathers as his bead like eye watched Fal. His talons were sharp and he was being careful not to let them cut into Fal's skin like he would let them if the person was an animal prey or was someone who had the intentions of hurting his owner. He was a very devoted bird.

Her hazel eyes widened when she saw Ryoichi down the street. _Damn it he's found me,_ Fal thought. She quickly darted in another direction and started to run, she wanted to see him but she knew that she couldn't. Oisen had taken off from her shoulder.

The falcon started to fly over to Ryoichi it then wheeled around in front of him then started to fly to the road Fal had taken. He led Ryoichi around for a long time but they didn't find Fal. She had vanished on them.

Fal was panting by the time that she had gotten to her apartment, she had taken a long winding way to lose Ryoichi, and she had sensed him following her with her traitor of a falcon leading him. She didn't know that Oisen had been leading him. She had figured that Ryoichi had been following her on his own, without any help, for if anyone helped him then he'd have to have told the Soul Society. It hadn't been hard to lose him in the crowded streets whose flows were constantly changing, all she had to do was take the current open path-slowly, with pace with the others-then find the next opening one. When she got to the other edge to an emptier street she'd run to join the next stream-like crowd as soon as she could.  
Fal walked over to her fridge and pulled a bottle of water out of it before cracking it and beginning to drink the cool liquid. It felt great running down her parched throat. She wouldn't be leaving her apartment for awhile now, until she was sure that Ryoichi had given up his search for her.

To kill the time she spent locked up in her apartment Fal allowed herself to turn on her TV and watch a few shows-a rare treat-mostly her TV was there for show. Even then it was hardly worth noticing. It was old and the picture was bad but it was better than nothing. Usually she'd watch movies at someone else's house, like at Tekuto's when he invited Sabrina over for a movie and ended up inviting Shiro and Fal to join them. It was only every once and awhile when this happened, Fal knew that Tekuto and Sabrina preferred to watch the movies alone without the comments that she and Shiro put in. Fal also read some books.

When she finished reading a book she put it down and looked at the time, it was late. Fal decided that Ryoichi had probably given up for the day; she got up and grabbed some pieces of meat for the falcons before she went out to the shed. She wasn't ready for what lay in wait for her there.

Ryoichi cursed when he lost track of where Fal had run off to. Even with the falcon's help he wasn't able to keep track of her in the crowds she dove into as if they were meant for the purpose of hiding fleeing people._ I get my first glimpse of her again and she manages to shake me off her trail again. I understand why she was in the mobile corps now._ Ryoichi thought, he disliked how Fal had been able to get rid of him so seemingly easily. It hadn't occurred to him that Fal's loosing of him had been anything but easy for her. It had been exhausting work that she didn't like to do. It had been a hard choice for her to choose to run when a part of her wanted to see him. Even if she had made that choice in a few milliseconds, it had been very difficult. And Ryoichi would never know that.

"So Oisen, where to now? I hardly thought that you'd be able to help me find her yet you did. I guess she still likes falcons huh?" he asked. Some people looked at him oddly when they saw him talking to a falcon. Ryoichi sighed then started to walk, following the bird. He wasn't even sure if Oisen was leading him to where he wanted to go.  
He knew for sure that he was just being dragged around when the falcon dropped onto a tree to preen. Choking with rage, Ryoichi barely stopped himself from grabbing the bird and strangling it. "You dumb bird! Fal! Take me to Fal! Before I kill you, you… you dumb waste of feathers!"

Oisen looked down at Ryoichi before jumping down from the branch. He started to batter Ryoichi with his strong wings. He didn't like the threats coming from the man. Despite being a falcon he understood the words coming from people.

"Why… why you! I should roast you for dinner!" Using his hands and arms for a shield from the violently pounding he snapped. The thrashing from the wings continued as long as Ryoichi's threats continued. When Oisen stopped for a bit he waited to see if Ryoichi would do anything.

As fast as he could Ryoichi lunged for the falcon, the falcon took to the air then landed on Ryoichi's back. He didn't try to keep his talons from piercing the skin of the man. Ryoichi yelped then slapped the bird off of his back then looked at it. "Fine then, I'll look for her without you." He sighed. He got himself to his feet then started to walk off, in the wrong direction.  
Oisen looked at Ryoichi. If his expression could be read for anything it would have been read for 'what an idiot' at this moment in time. It was probably his over all impression of Ryoichi. He jumped off of the branch that he had gone onto then flew in front of Ryoichi's face as if to tell him that he was going the wrong way and to follow him.

Ryoichi looked at the bird and tried to decide if he should follow or not. When Oisen screeched at him for not following he ran after the bird and kept him in sight at all times, not wanting to lose the falcon like he had lost Fal. _Hopefully this bird leads me to her this time. Man, how does she stand this one?!_ He thought to himself as he ran. Personally, he couldn't stand this falcon. Any bird that would harass its owner's friend couldn't be that good to the owner herself.  
He was right on the falcon not being overly friendly to Fal.

Blue eyes widened in surprise when the door to the shed he had been led to began to open. Ryoichi knew that if it was someone other than Fal opening the door he could be in some major trouble; he knew that if it was Fal opening the door he'd be in trouble too. The risk seemed to be worth it. He slunk deeper into the shadows that he had hidden himself in. Falcons were everywhere around him. He ignored them and they ignored him. At first one of them had been biting him often but it smartened up after he batted it none-to-kindly away from himself. Any moment now he'd be noticed.

As soon as Fal had gotten out of the reach of the door he closed it shut so she couldn't leave and run on him again. He watched as Fal looked behind her in horror.  
He wasn't a fan of having to do catch her in this manner. "Your white falcon with the temper problem led me here." He spoke the words softly.

"Are you sure it's him or you with the problem? Ryoichi, I told you to forget about me. You're putting yourself in danger and you know it." Fal muttered softly.

Ryoichi barked out a hoarse laugh, "I'm not the one that's in danger. How long did you think it'd be until someone noticed you Fal? How long did you think you could go living amongst these humans?"

"Long enough. What does it matter to you Ryoichi? I'm an enemy to you. I'm an enemy to the place I used to live."

Ryoichi's eyes searched Fal's face. It was no longer the face that he remembered. It wasn't the face of the girl from so long ago, the girl who he had to be forced to talk to at first by his best friend because he was too shy to talk to her himself. "Did you do it?" he asked quietly.

"I'm not sure. Now go away. Please Ryoichi, go." Fal whispered then opened the door before pushing him outside into the cold air.

Ryoichi stared out at the dark night that wasn't so dark because of the light pollution and how the town began to light up the night. _So that's what she thinks…_ he pondered wondering what was on her mind, _I should probably begin to leave her alone. She probably won't forgive me if I track her down again. I'll work on keeping anyone else from finding out._ Deciding that that was for the best he started to walk away.

Fal had her ear pressed to the wood of the shed and listened to Ryoichi's fading footsteps through the night. She had somehow managed to pick out his footfalls from the rest of the chaotic noise in the background. She didn't realise that her body was shivering. She didn't realise that she was scarcely breathing.

Oisen's avian eyes watched Fal. It was almost as if he was annoyed with her as he watched her. Shrieking, he made Fal flinch and turn on him. He bit into the delicate skin of her inner wrist to make her pull back away from him.

"Oisen…" Fal hissed then yanked her arm away from the monstrously hooked beak. More skin tore at cause from the beak. Her body began to shudder when she smelled the blood that was beginning to stain her skin. Some of her blood was also falling to the wood-shaving covered floor and stained it red too. Dropping the meat into the shed she left, "Dumb bird."

"Hey guys, is Fal okay?" Fal was hardly aware of Sabrina's inquiry.

"She's been like that for awhile now Sabrina, she's probably fine though." Shiro said then glanced at his friend. His red eyes went over to Tekuto to see what he was up to. Beside him was Akira.

"I'm fine you guys, stop worrying." Fal sighed in exasperation, she wasn't in the mood for this, and her mind was elsewhere.

Tekuto watched Fal quietly, "as Shiro said, she's been like this for awhile now." He muttered to his girlfriend and friends.

"I said to stop worrying about it." Fal hissed. After that she wasn't aware of her friends' conversations, at least they weren't talking about her anymore. Her eyes watched her drink that she had cupped in her hands in front of her. Within her head her mind was in complete turmoil and chaos. "Please stop worrying about it you guys. It's just something that I have to sort out by myself." She whispered softly.

"Fal, go stop that pecking on the window." Shiro growled as he looked at the small, black white and brown moulted falcon.

Fal glanced up at the falcon and smiled lightly when she saw Aishwarya on the window sill, "What's she doing here?" she mumbled to herself. Dragging her hands away from the comfort of her cup, she stood and went to the window. Her eyes were on the bird as it jumped into the room. With a ginger care she began to caress the supple feathers of many colors. Light coons of love came from the falcon. Fal was also saying a few things too in coon-like tones.

She wasn't aware of the four sets of eyes that were watching her. She didn't care about her friends that were watching her. If they were to pay attention to what Fal was uttering then they'd hear that she was telling the bird about what was going on and the mental trouble she was trying to sort herself out of. Fortunately for Fal, they weren't paying enough attention to what she was saying.

Tekuto tightened his arm that was around Sabrina to pull her closer to him. His silver eyes began to wander the room as he remained there on the couch with his girlfriend. Whispering something into her ear, he got off the couch. He came back after a few seconds with two cans of pop. Cracking the first one he passed it over to Sabrina before doing the same for his and sitting down.

"Is everyone sure that Fal's okay?" He heard Sabrina whisper into his ear.

His shoulders rose and fell in a shrug, "Who knows? It is Fal after all. She's like this sometimes… but this seems to be the worst it has ever been so far. Plus, it hasn't passed on like it normally does," he whispered back to Sabrina. As he said he wasn't sure if Fal was okay or not, but his friend would never tell him what was wrong. Bothering Fal would be a waste of his time and breath and he wasn't going to make that waste. He just had to trust that she would tell him or get over it on her own.  
He didn't like it.

Tekuto was the kind of person that would try to help his friend. He was over protective at times and sometimes a bit possessive. The last thing didn't seem to bother Sabrina, if anything she was possessive too. They seemed to be able to manage it though.

He took a mouthful of his pop. He swallowed it slowly, letting it trickle down the back of his throat. In the background he could hear Fal and Aishwarya seeming to have a conversation in which the only one speaking was Fal while Aishwarya replied in trills, tweets, and crooning sounds. He was paying attention to his conversation with Shiro, Akira, and Sabrina. The conversation soon turned into a debate.

Debating stopped when Fal walked over and sat down on the cushion she had been sitting on before, she still seemed to be troubled but not as badly. Tekuto nearly snapped when he saw that Aishwarya was there and her talons were digging into his coffee table. He stopped since the table was chipped and damaged already. It hardly managed that more marks were going into the tender wood.

"So, you feel better Fal?"

"I think so. I'm not completely sure…"

"A bit better is better than nothing."

"Yes, you're right."

Tekuto could feel the sense of worry that everyone had plaguing the shadows of their minds begin to vanish. He glanced around the room. A smile came across his face when he saw the other ones begin too.

"Hey guys, you know what we should go do?"

Tekuto looked at the sky as he and his friends stood by the river. He had heard that there would be fireworks going off at some point tonight. It was just a rumour so he could be wrong, but he didn't believe that he was. He, despite not caring for gossip, managed to hear a lot of what was going on in the town.

They hung around there for hours without seeing anything that could be even slightly equivalent to a firework going off. Most of them were shivering and they were sitting close together. None of them had brought more than a sweater to Tekuto's apartment and the night was chillier than most had expected it to be. It hadn't seemed to be cold at first, however the longer they sat there the colder they became. If they moved around a bit they'd probably begin to warm up, but no one wanted to move. All eyes were glued onto the sky.

"Hey, guys, maybe we should get back?" Sabrina asked as she moved closer to Tekuto to try to get warmer.

"Any minute now, I may have heard the wrong time. But I'm sure that there's going to be fireworks tonight. Some big-shot having a party of some sort." Tekuto said. He tightened his arms around Sabrina, pulling her closer to him. He wanted her warmth just as she wanted his.

At the same time as Tekuto drew Sabrina closer to him, the sky lit up into a million different colors. The group watched the fireworks, awe on each and every face. None of them noticed their shivering as they watched the night sky light up even more than the lights that were on down below. When the fireworks ended the group of five lingered on the soft grass by the river. They listened to the sounds of the city that was beginning to go to sleep.

"We should probably begin to head home… it's getting late…" Someone in the group muttered. Taking the cue from the unknown voice they began to stand up. Tekuto started to walk with Sabrina to her house. He'd end up going back to his apartment for the night. He had only spent the night at Sabrina's a few times, and most of the time he fell asleep on the couch during a movie that they were watching there-to make sure that one of his friends didn't barge into his apartment during it.

Tekuto and Sabrina talked in hushed voices as they walked towards Sabrina's house. Their topics ranged from the fireworks to just about anything else thinkable. He stretched his one arm that wasn't snaked around Sabrina's waist. One of his feet were asleep and wasn't waking up as fast as he would have liked it too. It was a constant annoyance at the back of his mind and made his gait seem off. When the foot woke up he didn't notice it that much.

Arriving at the two story house with a brick fence around it Tekuto looked at it. He started to push the gate open then walked with Sabrina up the steps and stopped outside the door to her house. "Well then, I guess its goodnight now huh?" He asked Sabrina quietly.

Sabrina nodded softly. In the dim lighting she noticed that Tekuto's eyes seemed to be brighter than most eyes in this sort of light. "Your eyes are pretty…" she whispered. She was beginning to lose herself in them as her light blue eyes remained locked on his.

Tekuto chuckled lightly, "Most people call them uncanny, but not you." He was confused by that, "why is that Sabrina-chan?" He didn't receive any answer.

Back at the river Fal, Shiro, and Akira were beginning to walk to the apartment block. They were talking about the fireworks as they walked.

"Weren't they pretty?" Akira asked. Hyper was the only word to describe her state of mind at that particular moment.

"Yes they were, but we froze our asses off to be able to see them." Shiro said, pumping his arms as he did so to try to warm his self.

Fal giggled, "Oh well, it was fun shivering together as we waited. I guess Tekuto's rumours he managed to hear didn't give him the exact time. Or if they did, then the time was wrong. At least there actually were fireworks. His rumours have been wrong before."

"Like the time he said that there would be a video shooting here? We came out to see if it was true and we just got poured on." Shiro said. His voice contained some anger at Tekuto for that. In the end it had made for a funny memory for them.

Both Akira and Fal laughed. "I remember that, I was freezing by the time we managed to run to the apartments." Fal said. She was laughing as she said it.  
"Did we even make it to the apartments?"

"No… I think Tekuto ended up finding a soccer ball on the way so we played some in an empty lot. But it was muddy and we were tackling each other and all that. We were filthy by the time we stumbled to the apartment block. Then the landlord wouldn't let us into the place because of how dirty we were. They sprayed us with the hose before they'd let us in."  
"I remember that. Man that was fun. We should do it again sometime, but lets let Akira and Sabrina join in." Shiro laughed.

"It sounds like fun." Akira stated as she walked.

"It is." Shiro assured her then pulled out his key to get into their apartment block. He opened the door and let his girlfriend and friend go into the building first.  
The warm air felt like heaven when they stepped into the building. They said goodbye before each going to their own rooms in the apartment. Fal walked inside her apartment and looked around. It was almost as if she was searching it for any unwanted visitors-more like one certain unwanted visitor. Seeing that he hadn't found out her apartments she relaxed. She would be all to weary about the shed that she had her many falcons in.

The bite in her wrist started to hurt some more with the sudden warmth to the tender skin around it. She glanced down at it before going to take off the Band-Aid that was falling off on its own. She looked at it, it was a bit raw still but that was because it hadn't been able to scab over with the Band-Aid on it. She left it uncovered now. It'd be awhile before she tried to sleep and it was no longer bleeding so it seemed like it'd be fine to leave it uncovered now.

She walked over to her window and sat down by it. Her eyes stared out into the night sky. She began to ponder about the things that were plaguing her mind. Most of them had to do with Ryoichi. She wanted to get him out of her mind but she couldn't.

Ryoichi lay down on his bed. His eyes stared at the ceiling. He was tired, that was for certain, but he couldn't sleep at all. Eventually he closed his eyes. Within the backs of them they lit up like the night had when the fireworks had been going off. He had seen them. He had actually liked them.  
They brought back memories.

When he had been younger and had first gotten a promotion in his division his friends had arranged for some fireworks to be shot off that night in the Seireitei. It had been a fun night. Even after the fireworks had ended he and the others hung out and partied most of the night. Haru, who was rather quiet, didn't get too into the celebration but he did in his own way. The others hadn't cared about the noise they were causing, they were just another group out having a good time at night.

The next morning had been hell. He had woken up to a wicked headache, plus, some of his friends had shown up again in the morning to have breakfast and hang out some more. At least one of the drinks one of them had brought had soothed his headache a lot and made him feel up to the day at his division. Without the drink he didn't think he would have been very good during that day.

The next morning he woke up and got dressed quickly. He was once again to be sent to the world of the living for a few more days. Last night had been the one time in awhile that he'd be able to return to the Soul Society for a night's rest. It wasn't long until he was running after his hell butterfly through the white-blenched portal. He breathed more easily once he was out of it and back in the world of the living. _At least this way no one can accidentally find out about her,_ he thought to himself. He was still torn on what to do. If it came down to it he wasn't sure what he would do. He didn't want them to get their hands on his friend. Even it that friend had cut her ties from him. _It's not like she meant to cut her ties though I don't think. She really had no other choice,_ he thought.

Fal was outside on the streets already. Last night, during the fireworks, she had been sure that she had seen Ryoichi standing nearby and also watching them. The thought of him being near didn't make her feel too good. She didn't like the idea of him watching her. _Why does he have to be so goddamn stubborn? Why can't he just listen to me and stay away like I told him too?!_ She thought.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - The Elusive Pie**

Shiro went bursting into a bakery, "What!?" he muttered before he turned tails and left. He had been doing that practically all day.

"Again?!"

"Sold out?!"

"Not here _either!_"

"Aw, come on already!"

"Damn it!"

"One, not even one?!"

"Why me?!"

"_All I want is one stinking…"_

He had gone to almost every grocery store and bakery in the Kara Kura district of Tokyo. He didn't want to leave the district without recruiting help from his friends, and he knew just where his friends were. He wasn't sure if they'd help or if they'd just fall into a fit of laughter.

"Guys, guys! I need your help!" Shiro said as he rushed into the lot of the apartment block. Fal, Akira, Sabrina, and Tekuto were out there talking to each other and lying on what little grass there was.

"Help, help for what?" Tekuto asked. He sounded a bit annoyed at the sudden appearance, and disruption of the peace, of Shiro.

"I…I'm looking for…"

"Looking for what? Come on, spit it out already. We don't have all day you know."

"Pie! I'm looking for pie!"

Stunned looks be felled all of the girls and the boy that were sitting on the grass. When the stunted phase of shock passed over, they erupted into fits of laughter. "Pie! Why pie of all things?!" they laughed.

He knew that they'd laugh.

"You guys know that my little sister went away for a while! Well, I wanted to get her something when she came back. I decided that since she liked baking a pie would be the best choice. She's good at baking but, she doesn't make pie often so I figured it'd be a nice treat for her." Shiro exasperatedly explained to his friends. It was as if he didn't expect them to be able to figure anything out for themselves. The tone was more directed at Tekuto and Fal than it was to Akira and Sabrina.

"_Pie!!!!!!"_

Shiro could hear the grumbles coming from Tekuto about being recruited to look for the 'elusive pie' as his friend was mockingly calling it. He didn't care about how much was grumbled as long as they found a pie in the end. He couldn't believe that all of the grocery stores and bakeries were sold out of pie. How often did that occur even? Once in a blue moon? Less than that? But whatever the possibilities of it occurring it had occurred. Now, he and his pie-searching-army of four others were moving out. The target: pie.

"If you see any pie anywhere call me on my cell." He had said before marching out. He wasn't sure if his friends heard. He didn't think it would matter if they had heard him or not.

Once they left the Kara Kura district, there wasn't much change in the appearance of buildings or anything. When compared to their district it appeared to be the same. Each one searched a different store or bakery that might in chance have one pie. Each time they came out and walked over to the others they'd all be shaking their heads.

Tekuto didn't seem to care much about this. Shiro could tell from his continued mocking that he didn't think that it'd be so hard to find the 'elusive pie.' _Ah well, he'll be dragged around to all of the districts if this rate continues, _he thought.

He looked confused when a man, about his height, walked over and asked if he could help out. "Ah… I guess?" he muttered quietly. He looked back at his friends to see what they thought. All of them seemed relaxed with this decision. All except Fal. Fal was tense and her eyes were like daggers stabbing into the man that was offering his help. He looked at the man, examining him over to see what about this guy made Fal turn to a cat ready to pounce. The man's hair was brown and messy, his eyes a dark blue. He wore some jeans and a white shirt that anyone could have picked up in a store.

"Fal, what about you?" he asked.

"Keep him away from me and I'm fine with it." Fal said, her eyes narrowed even more on the man's face.

With a light nod of his head Shiro started to walk again, towards another district this time since the last one proved to be just as bad as Kara Kura had been. "Oh, hey what's your name?" he looked over his shoulder to the man as he asked.

"Ryoichi Asthemia." The man, or rather, Ryoichi replied to Shiro. He was on the other side of the group from where Fal was, but he was slowly getting closer to her after each time he went into a store to look—he didn't know what he was looking for—until he was close enough to her to talk to her.

"Hey, guys, I have to ask. What are we looking for?" Ryoichi managed to speak up after awhile.

"Pie," Fal hissed at Ryoichi. Her light-hearted mood had been smashed upon his arrival.

Ryoichi's face went blank. He didn't think that he had heard right. Laughter soon escaped from him, "Pie? Are you guys nuts?!"

"Don't forget, you were the one that offered to help." Shiro chided.

Shiro couldn't really hear the conversation between Fal and Ryoichi but from what he could make out it sounded like Fal and Ryoichi had known each other from someplace before. It also sounded like Fal was angry at Ryoichi for something, but he couldn't tell what it was that she was angry about. _Who knows, it's Fal after all. I don't think many of us know her background, _he thought. The thought led him to wondering if this Ryoichi guy knew about Fal's past.

He shook that thought away. He didn't think that Ryoichi could know about that—no one did but Fal. But at the moment it sure seemed like he knew a lot more about Fal then she was willing to tell them. It bothered him somewhat but he didn't allow it to bother him. What Fal told and didn't tell them was her own business and if she was keeping it hidden from them there must be a good reason for it.

This train of thought made him wonder what her reason for not telling them was. _What did she do before she came here that's so bad to keep it hidden from all of us? _He thought to himself. He shrugged the thought off and focused on the current problem: no pie. Another district and the same tale, absolutely no pie. "Man this search isn't going good…" Shiro grumbled.

"Hey, can we grab something to eat now?" Tekuto asked as he stretched his arms.

"Yeah, I'm hungry." Echoes of agreement followed from everyone else.

Shiro stopped then looked at the others to see Ryoichi looking around. "There's a good place just over there." He said then pointed. The others looked over at Ryoichi then looked at were he was pointing. It was a fast food joint, but it was good enough. They all started walking over there.

Once they were inside the place they found a table. They put their stuff on it then went to order. One person stayed back to make sure no one tried to take their things. When someone from their group came with their food they left to go get in line themselves.

It didn't take long for them all to be sitting at their table and eating. Constant chatter came from their table as they talked about anything and everything. Shiro had to explain why they were looking for a pie to Ryoichi during this little break in their search.

"So, pretty much you want to get your sister, who could easily bake one, a pie?"

Fal nodded in place for Shiro, "That's pretty much the case. What I don't understand is why you had to butt in and offer your assistance. What do I need, a restraining order?!" The argument continued, leaving most of the others at the table wondering just how much this Ryoichi character knew about Fal.

The search started up when everyone had finished eating their meals. Satisfied and full stomached, they seemed to look harder than they had before going for lunch. Still, none of them could find any of the pie that they were looking for. The group moved onto the next district.

"The elusive pie escapes once again!" Tekuto said starting up laughter.

"Hopefully it doesn't continue to, it's getting late." Sabrina muttered. Her blue eyes were up at the sky.

"We can always take the subway back."

"It'll be crowded in there!"

"It's better than the bus or walking back, unless you want to pay for a cab."

"That'll be too expensive."

"See, that's why the train will be best my Sabrina." Tekuto wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Hey Shiro, why don't we head home, there's bound to be some fresh pie tomorrow to get." Fal suggested."

"Fine, I guess you're right." Shiro said, "Let's go hang out at my place."

"Your place? Where's that?" Ryoichi inquired.

"At the apartment block that Fal, Tekuto, and Akira also live in. You'll see, since you seem to be alright to hang out with. You're not a part of any hoodlum group are you?"

"A hoodlum? No. Not that I'm aware of being in." Ryoichi said. He received a vicious glare from Fal.

"I'd be careful around him if I were you guys." Fal muttered.

"Why?"

"Never mind why, just be careful around him."

"Man, Fal that hurt. Seriously, I'm crying inside." Ryoichi said with mock emotion.

"Shut up." Fal hissed at him.

At Shiro's place everyone found a place to sit or lay. Ryoichi had picked a spot on the floor that was a fair distance from everyone but not too far away. His eyes would go to Fal often to see how she was acting. Mostly she was restless, constantly shifting her position, her eyes darting around the room rapidly, and she would flinch a bit when someone spoke to her. _And all this is probably because of me being here, _he observed.

"Hm? Oh, I come from out of the city." Ryoichi said when he realised that he was asked where he was from. "You guys probably haven't heard of the place I'm from."

"Right, try us."

The place that Ryoichi said, as he had thought, they didn't know where it was. He explained where it was easily. He had the feeling that Fal wasn't buying it though. It didn't bother him; she actually knew where he was from. He stretched his arms and got himself more comfortable on his piece of floor.

Taking a long, refreshing sip from his pop can he had been offered he began to ponder about many things. One of them being why Fal hung out with these people. He could understand it a bit, but to him they were just a bunch of humans. They had no importance. _It must bother her to have to hang out with humans all the time, her being of noble blood after all._

Yet, he couldn't tell if it bothered Fal or not. If it did she hid it well. He sighed to himself knowing that it'd be a waste of time to try to figure out Fal's emotions—he had lost his touch for _that_ years ago when he had almost forgotten her face. He was surprised that he had even recognised her when she had run into him. If it hadn't been for him feeling her spirit energy when he touched her he probably never would have recognised her. He would have just been ignorant to it and have gone on hating his mission here in the human world.

He still didn't understand why he was sent here when he was in the eleventh division. He still thought that this was thirteenth division work but now it was an excuse to be in the human world and to try to get Fal to talk to him some more rather than just avoiding him. Befriending her friends was his plan on doing this, if he was with them and their friend too then she couldn't avoid him nearly as easily without avoiding them. He knew that Fal wouldn't turn her back on her friends just to get away from him so it was fool-proof.

"So, when do we have to find this pie by? And why don't we just make one if we can't find one?" He asked.

"My sister gets back tomorrow evening… My mother may have taught me and her how to cook and bake, but I was never good at making pie." Shiro explained.

"Hopefully the elusive pie doesn't strike again tomorrow then, huh Shiro?" Tekuto asked. The shortest man out of the three was glared at viciously by his taller friend.

Ryoichi sighed inwardly to himself. He didn't quite understand humans still. _Pie of all things… I joined a search for pie…_ the mere idea of it made him wonder even more about humans. He hadn't always been a shinigami, but it was a long time since he had lived in the human world and now, humans baffled him.

It was late morning by the time Ryoichi was awoken by Shiro's racket in the kitchen. He had ended up falling asleep in Shiro's apartment on the couch. It wasn't a necessarily comfortable sleep, but it was better than the floor or staying up all night wandering the roads. "Time to search for some more pie?" he muttered under his breath. He still wasn't a fan of this search, and to him it'd be much easier just to bake their own pie. Wouldn't a home-made pie taste better than a bought one?

He had no luck of convincing anyone else about it though.

"So, when are we going out to look for some more…pie?" Ryoichi questioned.

"In a few minutes, the others will be here soon." Shiro answered from the kitchen. He was getting himself some breakfast. In several more minutes there was a knocking on the door. "Come in," he called.

The door opened and Akira, Fal, and Tekuto came inside. "Hey, where's Sabrina?" Shiro asked.

"I don't know, she texted me to tell me that she wasn't feeling well. She says she's sorry." Tekuto muttered.

"She was acting a bit odd yesterday wasn't she?" Shiro asked.

Nodding Tekuto agreed, "Yeah, she was. It was as if there was something on her mind… She was zoning out often enough."

"Ah well, I'm sure she's fine. Probably just some girl stuff." At the word 'girl stuff' Shiro received glares from the two girls that were in the room. "A-Anyways, let's get going!" He said, in rapid need of an excuse. Everyone stated their agreement than left the apartment. They headed to the main street of the Kara Kura district. The search for pie was on once again.

"Hey Shiro!"

"Shiro!"

"Look at this."

"I got one!"

Four pies were shoved into Shiro's face—all of them a different kind. In his hands he held his own box that contained a pie. "_Five?!_" he nearly exploded. There it was, five pies in the first place they looked when yesterday they couldn't find a single pie.

"Looks like the 'elusive' pie wasn't so 'elusive' today huh?" Tekuto stated. He sighed wondering what they would do with the other four pies that wouldn't be given to Shiro's little sister Atsuko.

"Yeah, it wasn't. Damn, what should I do with all of these?"

"Let us keep them?" one of the other three people that had been on the search suggested.

"I'll let my sister pick one and if she wants them all I guess she can have them all. I'll pay you guys back. Thanks for helping." Shiro said.

That evening after Atsuko got home Shiro went to the hospital that their parents had owned and she had ended up getting once they had died with the five pies. He opened the door, scaring his sister as he did so. "Man Atsuko, after that night I'm surprised you don't lock your door all the time."

"I was going too…" Shiro's little sister muttered. She was usually quite and was the complete opposite of aggressive, normally preferring to stand back and stay out of things. She hadn't always been like that. She had once been the centre of debates and other such things, but that had stopped after one night. Shiro knew that the scars were both mental and physical.

"Glad to hear that. I guess it's not dark yet either." Shiro mused to himself.

"Wh-What are you doing here Katsuro? You haven't come here in awhile." Atsuko said. Katsuro was Shiro's real name. She was pretty much the only one that used it.

"Oh me, I came to give you something." Shiro snapped out of the thoughtful cloud he had been in. He went into the room then set the boxes down on a counter. "It took me and my friends ages to find these. Hope you like them."

Shiro walked away after a few minutes. He had gone upstairs to see what the building was now like; he had grown up there after all. When he got back Atsuko was holding one pie, "Don't drop it."

Atsuko jumped and hurled the pie at his face. The suddenness of his voice had scared her. She giggled as she watched him wipe the pie off of his face. He tasted some of it as he wiped it off of him and onto the tile floor.

"That's good… now why don't we actually have a piece of one rather than wasting it?" Katsuro asked.

"Okay" Atsuko whispered then opened another one. She cut it into a few pieces then put one on a place for Katsuro then one on a plate for herself. She passed the one for Katsuro to him.

"It's not cherry…" Katsuro muttered under his breath.

"You didn't say you wanted cherry."

"I said '_cherry!_'"

"No you didn't." Atsuko sighed. She laughed a bit to herself as she watched her brother.

"Hmm… I…said…. 'a piece of cherry'."

"No, you didn't. Just eat your pie."

"Fine." Shiro grumbled under his breath.

Ryoichi was at Tekuto's apartment that night. Since Shiro was out at his sister's Akira didn't show up, Sabrina still hadn't shown herself at all, and Fal had refused saying that she had a few things to do at her place. _Things to do, yeah, right. She's still trying to avoid me… its futile though, _he thought. The final thought made him smile to himself. His tightly woven trap was beginning to close. Fal couldn't avoid him without avoiding her friends too, and he knew that she wouldn't do that.

_The time is ticking out Fal; you're going to have to talk to me again some time._

Fal stared out of her window. Her mind was in complete chaos. _Why can't he just stay away?! Why… damn it Ryoichi! _She thought to herself. A sigh escaped from her, he had never listened to her before, why should he start now? It'd be all too easy if he started to listen to her now. He was always trying to be a pain… well… after he got enough nerve to stop avoiding her he would try to be a pain.

_Time is running down…_


End file.
